"Texas state Sen. Wendy Davis (D), who captivated the country with her attempted 13-hour filibuster of a sweeping anti-abortion bill, likely would have lost her seat in 2012 to redistricting if not for the Voting Rights Act that was gutted Tuesday by the U.S. Supreme Court.

MSNBC's Zachary Roth reported earlier this month that Republican leaders in Texas tried to slice up Davis' Fort Worth district in 2011 and move thousands of black and Hispanic voters into neighboring districts. But Davis challenged the move in federal court under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act -- a part of the law rendered inoperable by the Supreme Court decision that struck down the heart of the law.

Section 5 allows the federal government to prevent states with a history of racial discrimination from making election changes that could affect the voting rights of minorities. Davis told MSNBC that under Texas' new districting plan, minority voters “were being separated very purposely from each other -- and therefore from the power to ever express their preference at the ballot box again.”

Davis and the U.S. Justice Department won the case in August 2012, a few months before elections, and Texas was forced to drop its redistricting plan. Davis was narrowly reelected to her state Senate seat in November."

May I add that Texas State Senator Leticia Van de Putte deserves a HUGE HUG and THANK YOU on defending Texas Senator Bill 5 too. Senator Van de Putte, who attended a memorial service for her FATHER today, rushed back to the Texas Senate Chamber to fight this bill. Upon not being recognized to speak by chair after Senator Davis con't filibuster was stopped, Senator Van de Putte took up the cause stating:

"As Republican lawmakers suspended Texas state senator Wendy Davis' marathon filibuster of a contentious abortion bill late Tuesday night, a Democratic lawmaker called out her male colleagues for silencing the legislature's female representatives.

"Did the President hear me or did the President hear me and refuse to recognize me?" state Sen. Leticia Van De Putte asked.

"At what point must a female senator raise her hand or her voice to be recognized over her male colleagues?” she asked as the chamber erupted in cheers.

Earlier in the evening, De Putte, whose father died in a car accident last week, helped run out the clock after Republicans suspended the filibuster on the grounds that Davis' discussion of mandatory ultrasound testing was not related to the abortion bill.

“Since I was not able to be here on the floor because of my father’s funeral, I ask that you tell me the three points of order so that I may understand even in the most basic way the debate about to begin,” she said.